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Rice Baseball: Rays draft Roel Garcia in 14th Round of MLB Draft

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After completing his sixth season as a collegiate, Rice baseball pitcher Roel Garcia was selected in the 14th Round of the MLB Draft by the Rays.

Rice baseball hurler Roel Garcia served primarily as a reliever during the 2022 season, one of the best statistical campaigns of his career. He posted career-best marks in ERA (4.73), innings (45.2), strike outs (50) and appearances (16).

The strong year, combined with impressive arm talent, was enough to earn him a selection in the 2022 MLB Draft. He came off the board with the 434th overall pick in the 14th Round. He was one of 10 Conference USA players selected during the draft and the only Owl selected.

Garcia is the first Owl drafted since Trei Cruz, selected in the third round by the Tigers in 2020. Although Rice saw no players selected in the 2021 MLB Draft, that proved to be an outlier. The Owls have produced quite a lengthy list of draftees in recent years, even without perennial trips to Omaha.

Rice Baseball MLB Draft selections (last 10 years)

Player Draft Year Round
Roel Garcia 2022 14
Trei Cruz 2020 3
Matt Canterino 2019 2
Evan Kravetz 2019 5
Garrett Gayle 2019 12
Roel Garcia 2019 27
Trei Cruz 2019 37
Addison Moss 2019 37
Ford Proctor 2018 3
Ricky Salinas 2018 25
Cody Staab 2018 30
Glenn Otto 2017 5
Dane Myers 2017 6
Tristan Gray 2017 13
Jon Duplantier 2016 3
Blake Fox 2016 10
Jordan Stephens 2015 5
Leon Byrd 2015 10
Kevin McCanna 2015 13
Austin Orewiler 2015 14
Matt Ditman 2015 16
John Clay Reeves 2015 20
John Williamson 2015 23
Zech Lemond 2014 3
Skyler Ewing 2014 6
Caleb Smith 2014 15
Matt Ditman 2014 15
Shane Hoelscher 2014 17
Chase McDowell 2014 26
Austin Kubitza 2013 4
Michael Ratterree 2013 10
John Simms 2013 11
Christian Stringer 2013 16
Geoff Perrott 2013 17
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MTSU thumps Rice Baseball in Owls’ final home series of 2022

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Rice Baseball wrapped up their final homestand of the 2022 season with a whimper, falling in three straight games to Middle Tennessee at Reckling Park.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball loses the series 3-0

The final home series of the 2022 Rice Baseball season ended with a thud. Not only were the Owls officially eliminated from any sort of postseason appearance, they were outscored 33 to 11 in the three-game slate. The sweep is the Owls’ fifth of conference play. Rice is now 13-37 overall and 6-21 in conference play. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. The Seniors

Sunday was Senior Day for Rice Baseball. Pregame festivities included jersey presentations and a formal thanks in front of the crowd at Reckling Park. This class features several players who have become mainstays for the Owls in recent seasons.

Austin Bulman, Alex DeLeon and Brandon Deskins each made their marks at Reckling Park. Bulman has been one of the most productive bats in the Rice lineup over the past three seasons. DeLeon has worked as a Friday Night starter, bullpen option and everything in between. Deskins became one of the more reliable options out of the pen, becoming a frequently used reliever during his time at Rice.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball swept by explosive ULL offense in midweek duet

Roel Garcia, Thomas Burbank, Jonny Hoyle, Justin Dunlap, Dalton Wood, Drake Greenwood and Antonio Cruz were also honored.

2. The Future

After reflecting on the contributions of the seniors, head Coach Jose Cruz Jr. did express his excitement for the young core of players who saw meaningful experience on the diamond this year. Guys like Aaron Smigelski, Guy Garibay and Nathan Becker proved they’d be key pieces of this team moving forward. Garibay and Becker each collected hits in each of their starts on the weekend.

Catcher Manny Garza, who missed the middle portion of the season, went 3-for-5 on Saturday and 2-for-4 on Sunday, driving in four runs across those two games.

Cruz Jr. hopes the same will be true on the mound. Mark Perkins battled through two innings early before the wheels fell off on Sunday. Matthew Linskey through three innings on Saturday, allowing one earned run while facing 12 batters.

3. Four more

There will be much more to be said about the season as a whole in the weeks and months ahead. For now, Cruz Jr. hasn’t turned the page just yet. Regarding their midweek game against Houston and final C-USA series against FIU, Cruz said “I try to win every game I play. I’m still expecting them to go out and give me high effort and get out there and try to win a ballgame.”

By virtue of their losses this weekend, Rice baseball will officially fail to qualify for the Conference USA Tournament. Even given the understandably lowered expectations entering this season, to fall this far in the conference standings can only be viewed as a disappointment.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | MTSU 7 – Rice 0

For the second consecutive Friday night, Rice baseball was shut out by their opponent. This time around they were overpowered by Middle Tennessee starter Peyton Wigginton, who threw a complete game, striking out 10 batters and allowing just two hits and three walks. He kept the Owls off balance from start to finish.

On the mound, the two-man tandem of David Shaw and Alex DeLeon did what they could to limit the Blue Raiders’ bats. DeLeon entered in the fifth inning and held MTSU to three runs on five hits, but he did not get the support he needed from his offense to make the game competitive down the stretch.

SATURDAY | MTSU 5 –  Rice 4 (10)

Manny Garza opened up the scoring with a single that drove in Pierce Gallo in the bottom of the second inning. The Rice lead would not last long. Middle Tennessee answered immediately with three runs in the third and one more in the sixth, taking a 4-1 lead into the ninth inning.

For the second day, Rice struggled to get productive at bats against MTSU’s starting pitcher. This time, though, they were able to do some damage against their bullpen. Rice scored three in the ninth inning, two from a Jack Riedel home run, to force extra innings. Matthew Linskey would be charged with the loss allowing one run in the 10th in his third inning of relief.

SUNDAY | MTSU 21 – Rice 7

All smiles that lingered from Senior Day festivities were quickly put away in the Sunday finale as the Middle Tennessee bats went to work. The visitors scored one run in the first, two in the second and 11 in the third. Starter Mark Perkins was driven from the game in the third but Thomas Burbank did little to stifle the Blue Raiders’ attack, ceding to Garrett Zaskoda before the inning was over.

Trailing 14-0, Rice got its first hit of the game in the bottom of the third. Two runs that inning wouldn’t be nearly enough to stem the onslaught. MTSU would go on to hang 21 runs on Rice, taking the game and the series in landslide fashion.

ON DECK | vs Houston (Tues),  vs FIU (Thr-Sat)

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Rice Baseball bats quiet in sweep by No. 6 Southern Miss

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Rice Baseball was swept by No. 6 Southern Miss despite numerous chances to make the series much closer early in the weekend.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 3-0

From a pitcher’s duel to a blowout-shortened game, Rice baseball saw everything in their weekend sweep by Southern Miss — everything except for runs. The Owls have lost four consecutive conference series and enter the last few weeks of the regular season with an 11-29 overall record, 4-14 in conference play. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Situational hitting

Finding base runners was challenging this weekend, but for the most part, Rice had opportunities to drive in runs but did not capitalize. Rice was 1-for-2 with runners in scoring position in Friday night’s 1-0 pitcher’s duel, then 2-for-12 on Saturday and 1-for-6 on Sunday.

The Owls had one two-out RBI. Southern Miss had eight. There wasn’t any way to squint at the boxscore and walk away feeling comfortable with what the lineup was able to do in situations where one hit had the potential to tangibly impact the bottom line.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball sweeps season series over SHSU with midweek win

For the weekend, Rice hit .167 when the bases were empty. The Owls hit .128 with runners on in any capacity, tallying five total hits when they had anyone on base in the three game series. The Southern Miss pitching was tremendous, but Rice wasn’t exactly putting their best foot forward at the plate either.

2. Strikeouts

Rice baseball hitters struck out 42 times in 25 innings, a rate of roughly 1.7 batters per inning. When more than half of your at bats don’t get the ball in play at all, you have a problem. There were several occasions where those punchouts killed golden run scoring opportunities.

Friday, Top 7. With Rice trailing 1-0 and Aaron Smigelski at second base, Pierce Gallo struck out. The runner would never advance. Rice would lose 1-0.

Saturday, Top 3. Rice had the bases loaded with no outs and had already forced Southern Miss to go to the bullpen. After an infield fly from Galo, Jack Ben-Shoshan struck out looking, handing a two-out situation to Justin Long who grounded out. Rice wouldn’t score again for the rest of the game.

It’s not an individual problem, and those two examples aren’t meant to isolate the players themselves, moreso they point to a trend that has proven extremely detrimental to this team over the past several weeks.

3. Silver linings

  • Aaron Smigelski had a sold weekend at the plate, accounting for three of the Owls’ 13 hits.
  • Manny Garza went 2-for-3 on Sunday, his second multi-hit game of the year. He’s batting .438 on the season after recently returning to the lineup after injuries kept him on the shelf for several weeks.
  • The defense turned three double-plays on Saturday, a season high. Fielding was altogether better on the whole. Rice committed four errors in three games, but had just one error in the first two games combined.
  • Cooper Chandler was fantastic on Friday night, throwing a season-long seven innings.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Southern Miss 1 – Rice 0

The first seven Rice batters struck out and the offense didn’t collect their first hit until the fourth inning. On most days, particularly away from the confines of Reckling Park, that would have left the Owls in a sizable hole. That wasn’t the case this time around, thanks to the near-flawless outing of Cooper Chandler.

Chandler allowed a leadoff double in the sixth which would come around to score on a sacrifice fly, but otherwise he was superb, allowing five hits in 7.0 innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Matthew Linskey followed with a spotless eighth, but the bats never got going. Rice managed three total hits, two of which came in the fourth inning when Nathan Becker was thrown out at the plate.

SATURDAY | Southern Miss 6 – Rice 3

Rice got another strong outing on the mound on Saturday, this time from Alex DeLeon who cruised through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Rice led 3-1 at the time, cobbling together a few runs in the second and third innings. It wouldn’t be enough. When DeLeon was ambushed, the situation devolved quickly.

Southern Miss led off that inning with back-to-back doubles followed by a home run. David Shaw would finish the free, but the damage had been done. Trailing 6-3, the Rice offense wouldn’t score again, despite Shaw finishing out the game with an impressive 3.2 innings of one-run ball.

SUNDAY | Southern Miss 12 – Rice 2 (7 innings)

That one crooked inning would do Rice in again on Sunday, but early on everything seemed to be in line with the beginnings of the first two contests of the weekend. Southern Miss scratched across singular runs in the second and third off starter Thomas Burbank. Rice tied the game up in the second on a two-run home run from Nathan Becker.

Even when Southern Miss answer in the fifth with three runs against Roel Garcia, it didn’t feel like the game was out of reach. But that would prove to only be the tip of the iceberg. Southern Miss erupted for seven runs in the seventh inning, ending with a grand slam to put the home team ahead 12-2. The game was called at that point, leaving Rice to head back home on a low note after two much more competitive games.

ON DECK | vs Western Kentucky (Fri-Sun)

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Rice baseball: Sunday fireworks avert weekend sweep vs UTSA

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Rice Baseball salvaged a Sunday win against UTSA, snapping a nine-game C-USA losing streak as the back end of the season approaches.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 2-1

Rice baseball dropped a conference series for the third consecutive weekend, this time falling to UTSA 2–1 at Reckling Park. The Owls pitching staff was worn down throughout the weekend, but the Rice bats were able to answer with some power of their own in a runaway Sunday win. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Ouch

Rice baseball gave up 36 runs in its three-game series with Texas earlier this season. At the time, that was largely excused as early-season jitters on an opening weekend against a college baseball superpower.

From there, the run totals against the Owls started to dissipate, albeit slowly. Lamar scored 26 runs in three games. Tech scored 20. UAB had 26 runs and FAU pushed across 22. Then UTSA came into Reckling and put up 31 runs, but somehow only managed to win two of the three contests.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball sweeps season series over SHSU with midweek win

UTSA is second in the conference in batting average, third in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging percentage. The Roadrunner bats have been just as lethal elsewhere. But it still stings a bit to give up an average north of 10 runs per game over the course of a weekend, regardless of how good the opponent is thought to be at the time.

2. All together now

Despite the first two one-sided results in favor of the visitors, Rice and UTSA each tallied 34 hits on the weekend with UTSA committing seven fielding errors to the Owls’ six. Part of the reason Rice came up short in the run column was the lack of synergy the lineup produced in the first two games, especially at the top where the bulk of the Owls’ offensive production has been produced so far this season.

On Friday, Jack Riedel and Aaron Smigelski went hitless while Nathan Becker and Austin Bulman managed a single apiece.

On Saturday it was Guy Garibay’s turn to go 0-for-5 from the field. Smigelski, directly behind him in the batting order, went 0-for-4.

It wasn’t until the Sunday finale the Rice bats started firing in unison. Garibay, Bulman, Smigelski and Becker each reached base at least four times. Pierce Gallo followed behind them with a four-hit, four-RBI day.

It’s unrealistic to expect that kind of production from an entire middle of the lineup day in and day out, but even an extra hit here and there would have helped the Owls extend innings and scratch across a few more runs. On Saturday UTSA outhit Rice 14-10 but won by 11 runs. That’s just too big of a gap. The offense left too many runs on the table.

3. Sundays are for closers

Ironically, Rice closer Matthew Linskey has his worst outing of the season, surrendering four runs in his lone inning of work. But it wouldn’t matter in the end, because the Rice lineup had given him a more the sufficient cushion with a crucial assist from a pair of Rice pitchers.

Thomas Burbank and Brandon Deskins held a lineup that had scored 24 runs in the first 18 innings of the series to two runs across seven frames. Honestly, it was stunning, in the most positive of ways. Rice doesn’t win the game without both men hurling tremendous games, allowing the Owls to race out to such a big lead.

On a weekend where good pitching performances were hard to find, that tandem shone bright and gets a well-deserved shout out here.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | UTSA 9 – Rice 2

UTSA struck early, getting to Rice front liner Cooper Chandler with a four-spot in the second inning before ultimately scratching across two more against him before he left the game, trailing 6-2. Those two Rice runs came courtesy of a Guy Garibay double and would be the only meaningful offensive contribution from the Owls for the remainder of the evening.

The Roadrunners would tack on a few insurance runs in the eighth and ninth innings, rendering a productive 3.2 inning relief appearance from Garret Zaskoda too little, too late. UTSA went on to win 9-2

SATURDAY | UTSA 15 – Rice 4

An error-plagued third inning allowed Rice baseball to take a 3-1 lead against UTSA on Saturday, their first lead of the series. It would not last long. UTSA struck back with six runs in the next half inning, driving Rice starter Alex DeLeon from the game after the frame, but not before the damage had been done.

Trailing 7-3, Rice would never get closer. UTSA would score eight more runs as the Rice lineup went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners as any hopes of a rally dwindled by the inning. And that’s before taking into account a bizarre 45-minute delay to check the hat of pitcher Roel Garcia, which would prove fruitless.

SUNDAY | Rice 16 – UTSA 7

Aiming to avoid a sweep, Rice baseball responded on Sunday with one of their most impressive offensive outings of the entire season. The Owls struck for three in the first inning, adding two more in the third and two more in the fourth. Leading 7-3 after four, it felt like a missed opportunity to have only managed a 9-3 lead entering the eighth inning.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

With closer Matthew Linskey on the mound, that didn’t seem to matter, until he allowed an uncharacteristic four runs to put the game very much so back in the balance. Leading 9-7, the offense did the rest. Rice batted around in the eighth, scoring seven runs to put an exclamation point on a long-awaited conference win.

ON DECK | at Southern Miss (Fri-Sun)

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Rice baseball swept at home, drops battle of Owls to FAU

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In a battle of Owls, Rice Baseball was swept at home by Florida Atlantic over the weekend, outscored by their visitors 24-10 in the three-game series.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 3-0

A hot start early on in conference play has seemingly cooled off for Rice baseball, who dropped their fifth consecutive contest on Sunday as a three-game series against FAU resulted in a sweep. Going winless at your own ballpark is never fun, and Rice will have plenty to work on as they prepare for a tough road trip to Ruston, LA next weekend. But first, a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Scoring output stumbles

The Rice bats haven’t been the problem in recent weeks. Even when they weren’t exploding for double-digit outputs, they still seemed to consistently reach six or seven runs, giving their pitching staff support and giving the team a chance in almost every game. Against FAU, Rice scored just 10 runs in three games.

FAU is in the bottom third of the conference in team ERA, and although they’ve pitched fairly well of late, this probably wasn’t the most dominant set of hurlers Rice baseball will see this season. They managed to do a number against the Owls.

Last Time Out: Ninth inning rally comes up short for Rice baseball vs TAMUCC

Perhaps this was just an off weekend, but it was telling that Rice baseball head coach Cruz Jr. opted to empty the benches on Sunday and put Jack Ben-Shoshan and Cullen Hannigan in the starting lineup for the first time in a long while.

He tried to shake things up and provide this lineup a spark. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. As the pitching staff struggles. the bats will continue to be relied upon to win Rice games. When they’re quiet, it’s going to make for long days at the ballpark.

2. Defense is picking up

It wasn’t that long ago where it seemed like Rice was due a three-error or four-error game every weekend. Keeping track of the baseball wasn’t something this team did well, that is, until the switch was flipped in late March and they became a stronger fielding team.

“I think our infield is starting to look really good defensively,” Cruz Jr. said, making note of the return of Hal Hughes to the lineup. Hughes made his season debut on Tuesday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi after missing the first half of the season with an injury.

Rice committed just two errors on the weekend, and although there were a few bad hops that some of the Owls’ defenders would have preferred to make, the focus is definitely better. That’s a plus, and a much-needed sign of growth for the program as a whole.

3. Pitching staff in progress

Had anyone offered Cruz Jr. a pair of two-pitcher games to open this weekend series he would have taken it in a heartbeat, especially against one of the best hitting teams in the conference. FAU leads Conference USA in hits, and although they picked up several against Rice, the Owls top end of the staff was competitive enough to be trusted with deep outings, even in the bullpen.

Weeks ago Cruz Jr. talked about finding a reliable corps to throw in the most high-leverage of situations. Even though the Rice bullpen gave up runs this weekend, it seemed evident some combination of Garret Zaskoda, Roel Garcia, Dalton Wood, David Shaw, Tom Vincent and Cristian Cienfuegos are going to the first guys to get the call just about every weekend from here on out.

More: Rice Baseball Midseason State of the Program

The shortlist has been built. What remains to be seen is which pitchers can make the adjustments and start to limit the damage against some of the deeper lineups in Conference USA. Matthew Linskey has been darn near perfect, but he can’ throw every day, not if he wants to maintain that level of effectiveness. No, it’s going to take another step up by a few more guys. Now it appears the staff knows who they’re looking for.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | FAU 9 – Rice 4

The series started out on a rocky note for Rice baseball starter Cooper Chandler who gave up four runs in the first two innings including a few very hard-hit balls. To his credit, he dug in and fought his way to the sixth inning. Cruz Jr. noticed his grit, saying Chandler “pitched really good”, casting his major complaints upon the Rice offense, which did little to support their Friday night guy.

Rice scored once in the first inning on a groundout. Guy Garibay pulled Rice within one run on a two-run blast in the fifth inning that made the score 4-3 in favor of FAU. The visitors tacked on five more runs after that, nickling-and-diming Chandler and Zaskoda as the Rice bats watched on, resulting in a 9-4 win for FAU.

SATURDAY | FAU 6 – Ricc 5

Filling for Parker Smith who left his start last weekend early, Alex DeLeon delivered a gritty four-run, five-inning effort in Game 2 with two of those runs unearned. Behind 3-0 in the fourth, Rice slugger Austin Bulman delivered an equalizing three-run shot down the left field line to breathe new life into the Rice dugout.

Both teams traded runs in the fifth inning to set the score at 4-4. Again in the sixth, single tallies from each side made it 5-5. FAU would take the lead for good in the eighth with a leadoff home run against Roel Garia following which Rice would send the minimum to the plate in the final two half innings.

SUNDAY | FAU 7 – Rice 1

Things were shaping up to be a close game on getaway day, until they weren’t. Rice took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Austin Bulman. FAU tied the game in the third, then jumped in front in the fourth. Trailing 3-1, the game still felt in reach until FAU delivered the gut-punch 4-run finisher in the sixth inning.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

Rice reliever David Shaw left with two runners on and one out, setting the table for Tom Vincent, who struggled to get out of the frame. He gave up three hits and allowed a run to score on a hit by pitch as Rice fell behind 7-1. They would not recover, tallying just four hits in the series finale.

ON DECK | Rice baseball vs Houston Baptist (Tues), at Louisiana Tech (Fri-Sun)

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